Energy levels

Published: Winter 2018-19

As new buildings multiply and electronics become ubiquitous, from classroom technology to residence-hall entertainment to the video pyrotechnics at Notre Dame Stadium, people like Paul Kempf have to keep the lights on, the costs down and — if they wouldn’t mind, while they’re at it — limit the environmental impact of all that energy coursing through campus.

Kempf ’80, Notre Dame’s senior director of utilities and maintenance, explained how the University navigates those priorities, which are often in tension with each other, during an Energy Week infrastructure update. It was a PowerPoint show-and-tell, and we’ve recreated a couple slides here to illustrate some of the highlights.

A lot is happening, including the introduction of geothermal fields, which we reported on in Autumn 2017, and a forthcoming hydroelectric plant that will supply some campus power from the St. Joseph River in downtown South Bend. The data detailed in these graphs documents Notre Dame’s overall energy efficiency and carbon-dioxide emissions reductions. The administration’s goals are ambitious and the results have been even better, including the expected elimination of coal usage by mid-2019, several months ahead of schedule.